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tsukikageOkay, I'm calling that my rough draft. Intensive editing shall occur tomorrow.
Y'know, editing my thesis, adding 24+ words, massive de-clunkification, adding citations, picking an audience... >.> <.<
Anyone who wants to read and comment, feel free.
Definition Paper Assignment Sheet
A definition paper is similar to a very long dictionary entry written with a particular readership in mind. In this paper, I expect that you will go beyond just supporting the dictionary definition of a word, and speak of its cultural implications. This will be due in lesson 3.
Writing Process
For the writing process, I recommend you proceed as follows:
1. Pick a word to define.
See the list below for pre-approved words. Feel free to e-mail me if you want to write about a word not on the list. Your word must be relevant to a class with a multicultural focus.
2. Look up the definition in a regular dictionary.
3. Research the etymology.
Research the etymology in the Oxford English Dictionary, through the University Libraries' Web site.
4. Pick an audience.
Your audience will be first-year college students who belong to a particular club. You pick the club. Here is a link to the University of Minnesota's current student groups. If you want to make up a club, that's fine, but make it realistic.
5. Brainstorm.
What will that audience already know about the term? What assumptions does that audience have about that term? Why is it important for that particular audience to learn more about the term? How can you make a definition of the term relevant to their lives? How can you interest them in learning more about the term (i.e., what's in it for them)?
6. Decide on your topic.
Based on what you know about the term and what your audience knows and wants, decide what the paper will be about.
For example, you could track:
* how use of the term has changed over time
* OR how different micro-cultures' use of the term varies
* OR how the term gets used in political rhetoric
* OR what elisions the term creates
* OR the legal uses of the term
* OR how the term is defined differently by insiders vs. outsiders
* OR your experience with the term (placed in a larger context of term usage)
7. Research.
If you are already quite familiar with the term, you can base your information on personal experience. Research, if necessary. This is not meant to be a research paper, but you may bring in outside sources if you cite them appropriately. Feel free to e-mail me for assistance with this, so that you avoid plagiarism. You will fail at least the paper and possibly the class if you plagiarize.
8. Get ready to write.
Now it is time to think about writing. Assemble your notes. Remember your audience. On a clean sheet of paper, write down who your audience is and what your thesis is, then keep that paper in view as you write.
9. Write the first version.
Write the first complete 750+ word version of the paper. As you write, you may also wish to keep the paper grading standards in mind (see Grading & Assignments).
10. Revise.
11. Submit your final paper.
During lesson 3, submit a final version to me via the Assignments link on the course Web site (see Course Schedule for exact due date). The grade for this paper is worth 10 percent of your final grade. The grade for this paper will rest heavily on your ability to write for a particular audience, and to bring your readers to a new understanding of the term.
Definition Paper Topic Suggestions
The following words are pre-approved. If you want to write about a word not on this list, e-mail me; the word must be relevant to the focus of this class. Because of the limited length of the paper and the limited success of past such efforts, you may not write to redefine Christianity, Judaism, Dharmic Religion, Islam, or any other main branch of theology. However, you may write about Sikhism, Jainism, Sufism, Roman Catholicism, Anglicans, Anabaptists, Reconstructionist Judaism, or other subgroups within the main branches.
[insert list of possible words here]
Please do not feel constricted by this list. If there is another word that you would like to define, and that is appropriate to a course with a multicultural theme, you're welcome to e-mail me. You need to get my okay before you start writing about any word not on this list; I'm open to the possibilities.
***
How to Write a Thesis
A thesis should:
* fulfill the assignment.
* be focused.
* make an argument.
* not be a question.
* not be obvious (passes the "nut-uh" test).
* have exigence (passes the "so what?" test).
* engage the reader.
* forecast the organization of the paper.
* be as clearly written as possible.
Like good papers, good theses usually go through several drafts before they are ready to be turned in.
Start with an audience:
* Students
Narrow the audience:
* Students registering for composition classes at Penn State
Decide on a topic:
* Gun control
Narrow the topic:
* Gun control and student writing
Say something about the topic, keeping the audience in mind:
* Many students in composition classes at Penn State write about gun control.
Turn the topic into a question (optional):
* Should students in composition classes at Penn State write about gun control?
Answer your own question. Make sure your answer is a bit controversial. For example, this thesis is controversial because many students would disagree:
* Students in composition classes at Penn State should not write about gun control.
Make the thesis relevant to the audience:
* Students who want good grades in composition classes at Penn State should not write about gun control.
Make the thesis forecast the organization of the paper:
* Because it makes teachers suspicious of plagiarism, it is hard to create specificity in a paper with such a broad topic, and it is a topic about which teachers are tired of reading, students who want good grades in composition classes at Penn State should not write about gun control.
***
Grading Points:
- Attention to audience [I'm trying to make sure I don't assume my audience knows jack-shit about Quakers]
- Audience brought to a new understanding of the term [umm... boom, fail.]
- Clear thesis [*laughs incredulously*]
- Transitions [......]
- Introduction [......]
- Conclusion [......]
- Expression (style, grammar, spelling, punctuation) [I hope my grammar, spelling, and punctuation, at least, are passable]
And here's a link to my paper.
Y'know, editing my thesis, adding 24+ words, massive de-clunkification, adding citations, picking an audience... >.> <.<
Anyone who wants to read and comment, feel free.
Definition Paper Assignment Sheet
A definition paper is similar to a very long dictionary entry written with a particular readership in mind. In this paper, I expect that you will go beyond just supporting the dictionary definition of a word, and speak of its cultural implications. This will be due in lesson 3.
Writing Process
For the writing process, I recommend you proceed as follows:
1. Pick a word to define.
See the list below for pre-approved words. Feel free to e-mail me if you want to write about a word not on the list. Your word must be relevant to a class with a multicultural focus.
2. Look up the definition in a regular dictionary.
3. Research the etymology.
Research the etymology in the Oxford English Dictionary, through the University Libraries' Web site.
4. Pick an audience.
Your audience will be first-year college students who belong to a particular club. You pick the club. Here is a link to the University of Minnesota's current student groups. If you want to make up a club, that's fine, but make it realistic.
5. Brainstorm.
What will that audience already know about the term? What assumptions does that audience have about that term? Why is it important for that particular audience to learn more about the term? How can you make a definition of the term relevant to their lives? How can you interest them in learning more about the term (i.e., what's in it for them)?
6. Decide on your topic.
Based on what you know about the term and what your audience knows and wants, decide what the paper will be about.
For example, you could track:
* how use of the term has changed over time
* OR how different micro-cultures' use of the term varies
* OR how the term gets used in political rhetoric
* OR what elisions the term creates
* OR the legal uses of the term
* OR how the term is defined differently by insiders vs. outsiders
* OR your experience with the term (placed in a larger context of term usage)
7. Research.
If you are already quite familiar with the term, you can base your information on personal experience. Research, if necessary. This is not meant to be a research paper, but you may bring in outside sources if you cite them appropriately. Feel free to e-mail me for assistance with this, so that you avoid plagiarism. You will fail at least the paper and possibly the class if you plagiarize.
8. Get ready to write.
Now it is time to think about writing. Assemble your notes. Remember your audience. On a clean sheet of paper, write down who your audience is and what your thesis is, then keep that paper in view as you write.
9. Write the first version.
Write the first complete 750+ word version of the paper. As you write, you may also wish to keep the paper grading standards in mind (see Grading & Assignments).
10. Revise.
11. Submit your final paper.
During lesson 3, submit a final version to me via the Assignments link on the course Web site (see Course Schedule for exact due date). The grade for this paper is worth 10 percent of your final grade. The grade for this paper will rest heavily on your ability to write for a particular audience, and to bring your readers to a new understanding of the term.
Definition Paper Topic Suggestions
The following words are pre-approved. If you want to write about a word not on this list, e-mail me; the word must be relevant to the focus of this class. Because of the limited length of the paper and the limited success of past such efforts, you may not write to redefine Christianity, Judaism, Dharmic Religion, Islam, or any other main branch of theology. However, you may write about Sikhism, Jainism, Sufism, Roman Catholicism, Anglicans, Anabaptists, Reconstructionist Judaism, or other subgroups within the main branches.
[insert list of possible words here]
Please do not feel constricted by this list. If there is another word that you would like to define, and that is appropriate to a course with a multicultural theme, you're welcome to e-mail me. You need to get my okay before you start writing about any word not on this list; I'm open to the possibilities.
***
How to Write a Thesis
A thesis should:
* fulfill the assignment.
* be focused.
* make an argument.
* not be a question.
* not be obvious (passes the "nut-uh" test).
* have exigence (passes the "so what?" test).
* engage the reader.
* forecast the organization of the paper.
* be as clearly written as possible.
Like good papers, good theses usually go through several drafts before they are ready to be turned in.
Start with an audience:
* Students
Narrow the audience:
* Students registering for composition classes at Penn State
Decide on a topic:
* Gun control
Narrow the topic:
* Gun control and student writing
Say something about the topic, keeping the audience in mind:
* Many students in composition classes at Penn State write about gun control.
Turn the topic into a question (optional):
* Should students in composition classes at Penn State write about gun control?
Answer your own question. Make sure your answer is a bit controversial. For example, this thesis is controversial because many students would disagree:
* Students in composition classes at Penn State should not write about gun control.
Make the thesis relevant to the audience:
* Students who want good grades in composition classes at Penn State should not write about gun control.
Make the thesis forecast the organization of the paper:
* Because it makes teachers suspicious of plagiarism, it is hard to create specificity in a paper with such a broad topic, and it is a topic about which teachers are tired of reading, students who want good grades in composition classes at Penn State should not write about gun control.
***
Grading Points:
- Attention to audience [I'm trying to make sure I don't assume my audience knows jack-shit about Quakers]
- Audience brought to a new understanding of the term [umm... boom, fail.]
- Clear thesis [*laughs incredulously*]
- Transitions [......]
- Introduction [......]
- Conclusion [......]
- Expression (style, grammar, spelling, punctuation) [I hope my grammar, spelling, and punctuation, at least, are passable]
And here's a link to my paper.
